| The Holmul style pottery represents a specific subset within the total corpus of Late Classic Maya polychrome ceramics. Yet the locations of the workshops which created this ceramic art are unknown, as is the nature of the production itself. Through a combined art historical stylistic and trace elemental chemical analysis of the vessels' clay paste compositions, the geographical locations of these workshops are indicated. The analyses suggest that two loci of production are represented by the eighteen vessels in this study, these being the archaeological sites of Naranjo and Holmul located in the eastern Peten lowlands of Guatemala. Yet internal stylistic and chemical variations among these eighteen vessels suggest that many different workshops in the area were creating these vessels. The stylistic and chemical data further indicate that these workshops were producing more than one style of painted pottery. These various styles of pottery have been excavated at other distant sites, and thus comprise evidence for long-distance trade of these specialized painted ceramic wares.;The data suggest, then, that the Holmul style pottery was produced in the Holmul-Naranjo area and that numerous workshops were creating these vessels. It is suggested that the creation of these Holmul style vessels took place within a small extended family unit engaged in specialized and diversified pottery production. Such workshops are more than likely represented archaeologically by small housemound groups which are found at every archaeological site throughout the Peten lowlands. |
